Chapter 1093 Britain's Sincerity - Dubai
So Russia is definitely an existence that governments of all countries will not ignore at the moment. Under normal circumstances, it will only take 20 to 30 years for Russia to return to the list of world naval powers.
In fact, strictly speaking, the Russian Navy has never fallen out of the ranks of the world's naval powers. The Russian Navy, which lost nearly half of it in the Russo-Japanese War, is still one of the most powerful navies in the world.
Before the First World War in the previous life, the Russian Navy had recovered to a level of nearly 700,000 tons, only behind Japan, but its scale far exceeded that of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You must know that Italy was also among the great powers in the previous life, and its navy The strength is still pretty good.
Among the current world powers, East Africa has replaced Italy's position and is an enhanced version of Italy. As for the current Kingdom of Italy, it is a European medium industrial power of the same type as Belgium.
This has to mention the ability of the Italian government. Even if it suffered serious setbacks in the last century, it still recovered quickly. It cannot be compared with the incompetent government of Portugal. After all, the current Italian government is not weak in the first place, and the previous generation of Italian government was poor. One point unified the entire peninsula.
It is worth mentioning that the Italian navy is now developing well. The total tonnage of the country's navy exceeds 100,000 tons. Although it is less than half that of its archrival, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is considered to be the largest in Europe and the world. A short and capable navy.
Having said so much, it can also be seen that the competition faced by the British Royal Navy is far greater than in previous generations, and the culprit of this situation is East Africa.
So Russell directly rejected Freer's unreasonable request: "This is impossible. A total tonnage of one million tons is not needed for you at all. We in the UK can completely guarantee that East Africa will be in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic. "
East African officials do not believe a word of the British guarantee. If the British government really had such integrity, East Africa would not vigorously develop its naval strength. After all, East Africa faces problems in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic. The main opponent is the Royal Navy.
Freer said: "Since our two countries have differences on this topic, it is better to put it aside for now. Let's see what benefits your country can provide us first. After all, we cannot reveal our trump cards first."
East Africa The government's attitude ultimately depends on the benefits that the UK can bring to East Africa. As for the naval issue, East Africa has a relatively flexible bottom line. If the UK can meet the needs of East Africa at the current stage, it is not impossible to adjust the naval tonnage downwards.
Seeing that Freer was unable to make progress, Russell could only lay out the British conditions first: "We can thaw diplomatically with East Africa and end the economic crisis of the past two decades. Sanctions, opening up South American and Middle Eastern markets to East Africa.”
Speaking of this, Russell also specifically observed the reaction of East African officials, and the result was naturally no reaction.
If it were just this condition, the East African government would not be tempted. After all, markets such as South America, the Middle East, and even Central Asia are not the only ones that have the final say. East Africa has naturally made great achievements in penetrating into East Africa for so many years. There are few results, so in the eyes of the East African government, this condition is simply generosity to others.
As for the UK easing its relations with East Africa and ending its economic sanctions on East Africa, it is indeed more important to East Africa. However, the UK's economic sanctions on East Africa have lasted for more than 20 years, and East Africa has long been accustomed to it.
Russell also saw this from the indifferent expressions of East African government officials, that is, this interest cannot really impress East Africa, so Russell decided to make some harsh news.
Russell said with a serious expression: "At the same time, we can also agree to the East African government's demand for a sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean region. To this end, we can transfer the suzerainty of a piece of land that originally belonged to the Persian Gulf region to East Africa."< br>
Freer asked calmly: "I wonder what your country has in mind?"
Since Friel took the initiative to ask, it means that East Africa is not indifferent. This detail greatly enhanced Russell's confidence. The corners of his mouth raised slightly and he said calmly: "Bring the map here!" Quickly, Russell's assistant spread the map that had been prepared on the table, and saw that a range had been marked in red on the map.
Russell pointed to the location of Dubai in his previous life and said: "This is the pirate coast of the Persian Gulf. If the East African government can agree to our request, we can allocate this place to East Africa."
Why Dubai! Because Dubai is a completely bad place in the eyes of the British government of this era, which can be seen from the name of Dubai in its previous life.
There is a saying that the name Dubai comes from Persian, which means locust larvae. East Africans are certainly familiar with locusts that are popular in Arabia. After all, desert locusts! It is also one of the main pests and diseases controlled in East Africa.
In the last century, the largest migratory locust disaster even caused a reduction of more than 40% in crop production in the entire northwestern region of East Africa. However, with the increase in population in East Africa and the improvement of the governance system, the current probability of migratory locust disasters has been reduced. East Africa has reduced the number by more than 60%, and as time goes by, East Africa's means of dealing with migratory locusts have also greatly increased. Nowadays, desert migratory locusts are no longer a problem in East Africa.
Currently, the large-scale desert migratory locust disaster faced by East Africa has transformed into a large-scale desert locust migration in the Red Sea and Arabian Peninsula.
Dubai, from the 19th to the early 20th century, was originally a place rich in sand. Coupled with the unlucky name of the so-called "locust larvae", it can be regarded as a barren land in the true sense. The ground is gone.
So Freer frowned and said to Russell: "Ambassador Russell, are you sure you are not joking with us? You don't know that we in East Africa know the land in the Persian Gulf region quite well, right? This area I'm afraid even humans are not suitable for survival!"
Russell naturally knows this, otherwise the British government would not be so "generous". It is because it knows that Dubai and nearby areas are a barren land, so the British government would Take this place to negotiate with East Africa.
He said: "Don't look at this as a desert, but its location is in the Persian Gulf. If we master it, East Africa will have a stable stronghold in the Persian Gulf. We in the UK can I have never been so kind to a country!”
Freer, who didn't know the true value of this place, laughed inwardly. He shouldn't have any expectations from the British government.
Freer said sarcastically: "Rather than a stronghold, I'm afraid even the water source is a big problem here. There are no conditions for agricultural development at all, and in such a small place, I'm afraid even a hundred It is difficult to stop even a human army. Your country’s sincerity has greatly enlightened me. If it is in this area, then our East African Navy is willing to reduce the number of several hundred tons to express our sincerity in East Africa.”
A few hundred tons is a drop in the bucket for the current size of the navy, and this is also an expression of our sincerity. To find out the psychological expectations of Dubai’s value among East African government officials.
It is naturally impossible for Russell to accept this result. If it is only reduced by a few hundred tons, it will be equivalent to no result at all. After all, the standard tonnage of the world's naval powers is more than 200,000 tons, which is tens of thousands of tons. as a unit of measurement.
Russell said: "All problems can be solved through negotiation. If you are not satisfied with the result, we can also negotiate. If we can offer a bargaining chip that is enough to satisfy our country, we will bring the entire Pirate Coast (equivalent to It doesn’t matter if the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the previous life were ceded to East Africa.”
Why Britain chose this place is not just because it is a barren land. After all, the entire Persian Gulf coast is basically a large desert with very little land suitable for farming.
The most important thing is that the pirate coast does not have much significance in the British strategy. For example, Kuwait is a natural connection to the Ottoman Empire or the Persian Gulf outlet that Tsarist Russia dreams of. Britain will definitely not be able to give it to East Africa. , as for the colonies such as Bahrain and Qatar in the Persian Gulf, they are even more favored by the United Kingdom. After all, the United Kingdom itself, as an island country, attaches great importance to islands.
(End of this chapter)